Frangible covered guard.



G. E. BEACH.

FRANGIBLB COVERED GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.6,1914.

Patented Aug. 4 19m IWN INVENTOR m M,

THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON, Dv C TATES rare CLARENCE n. BEACH, or BINGHAMTON, NEW some ssxenon T0 ononen o. KNAPP, or new YORK, N. Y.

icense.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE E. BEACH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Binghamton, in the county of Broome and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Frangible Covered Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a guard comprising a casing for a fire alarm box key or other object which it is desired to protect, and having a covering consisting of a plate of glass or other frangible material.

An object of my invention is to provide means by which, while the glass plate is firmly held in position as long as it is intact, as soon as the plate is broken, the pieces of glass will be released and allowed to fall clear, so that after the glass is broken, a per son will not run the risk of being cut by stray pieces thereof while reaching within the guard.

Another object of my invention is to provide spring actuated means by which pieces of the broken glass which might happen to rest upon the holding latch will be tipped so as to promptly fall clear of the opening in the uard.

Another object of my invention is to provide simple means whereby, when the glass has been roken, the catch may be moved out of the path of a new glass, and after such new glass is in position, the catch may be so adjusted to retain the glass, that it will be automatically locked in position.

In the accompanying drawing, showing a glass guard so constructed as to illustrate an application of my invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a fire alarm box door showing my invention applied to a guard for a door key; Fig. 2 is a vertical view, partly in section on the line of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; while Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 and showing a modification of my invention, and Fig.4 is a detail of Fig. 3 to be explained.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a portion of the door of a fire alarm box represented by 10 and extending forward from this door around the key is the casing of the guard. The top wall 11 of this casing is provided witha lug .12 in which is shown a slot 13 adapted to receive the glass 14.- The lug l2 Specification of Letters Patent;

Application filed February 5, 1914.

Patented Am st, .1914. Serial No. 816,803.

is made tapering as shown, so that the rear sin'face of said slot 13 will extend farther over the glass plate than the front surface, and hence when the plate is broken there will be no tendency to merely break a notch out of the glass no larger than the portion of the lug 12 extending in front of the plate, with consequent danger of causing the plate to bind when the top edge of the glass plate is forced forward by the action of the rod 17, as will hereinafter )(3 explained. The pertions of the wall 11 on either side of the lug 1:2 extend forward over the top of the glass. The side walls 15 also extend forward beyond the glass, while the lower wall 16 extendsonly to the rear surface of the glass. The upper side of the wall 16 is provided with a sloping or curved surface for the purpose of causing the broken pieces of glass to slide out. At the bottom of the glassis a rod 17, the end 1.8 of which is adapted to extend in front of the glass. The side walls 15 may extend below the bottom wall 16 to act as a protection to the glass plate and also to the rod 17.

The key 19, of which only the handle is shown, extends through a keyhole 20 in the door of the box. A hole 21 in the door is of ing for the rod 17 The block 22 has a hole 23 through which the rod 17 may pass. In the end of the block is a slot 24- adapted to resuch sizeas to provide a freely sliding bearceive an end 28 of the rod 17. Two opposite faces of the block are provided with guiding notches 25 which are adapted to receive the edges of a portion of the slot 26, which is cut through the web 27 extending back from the door 10, and has three different widths. The part nearest the door is wide enough and long enough to allow the block 22 to be placed in position. The middle portion serves as a guide to said block. The narrowest portion of the slot acts as a stop for the block and also provides space forthe movement of rod 17 to disengage its end 28 from said block 22, as will be described hereafter.

The rod 17 is of such length that when it is in its extreme forward position, the block 22 will still engage the middle portion of the slot 26, while, when itis in its extrexne rearward position, the block 22 will be held by the narrow portion of the slot and the rod 17 may move enough farther to disengage the end 28 thereof from the slot 2% in said block, before the end 18 of said rod comes in contact with the front surface of door 10.

The spring 29. is placed between the door 19 and the block 22 and tends to draw the lower edge of the glass 1 1 rearward by holding the latching end 18 of the rod 17 against the bottom of said glass. A stop 30, which is shown tubular in form, is provided for preventing the block 22 from being drawn forward far enough to permit the removalof the glass by pulling the rod 17 so far that the class may be slipped past the front edge of the wall 15, and also acts to prevent undue compression of the spring 29 and prevent the disengagement of the middle portion of the slot 26 by said block 22.

In the construction just described it is impossible to reach the key 19 without breaking the glass. If it is desired to provide means by which authorized persons may obtain access to the key without breaking the glass the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 may be used.

In Figs. 3 and 4.- the rod 17 similarly extends from the glass 14 to the rear side of the block 22. Upon the rearsurface of the door 10 is a tube 31 which may be cast integral therewith. The tube 31 is bored out large enough to receive the block 22 which is in this instance circular in form and has a flattened side. This block is normally prevented from turning by the engagement of its flattened side with the bolt 32 of the lock 33, which bolt passes through a slot in the tube 31, as shown in Fig. 1. The lock 33 may be operated by a key inserted through the keyhole 3 1. The pins 35 are so located as to restrict the movement of the block 22 within the limits previously described.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Normally the parts are in the position shown, the glass being supported by the latching end 18 and the latch being prevented from turning by the engagement of its end 28 in the slot 24 of the block 22 which is held from rotation by the slot 26 or the bolt 32. The pressure of the end 18 against the lower edge of the glass tends to swing the glass around the fulcrum formed by the front edge of the wall 16, but is restrained from so swinging the glass by the engagement of the upper edge of the glass with the portion. of the lug 12 in front of said glass. When it is desired to obtain access to the key 19, the glass 1 1 may be broken by striking it at any point, and owing to the very small area of the glass which is engaged by the lug 12, a slight blow will be sufficient to disengage it therefrom. As soon as the glass is broken the rod 17 will swing the bottomj edge of any glass resting thereupon toward the door, thus tipping over any piece of glass which may remain in contact with the end 18, and thus causing such glass to fall free of the guard. Any pieces which do not rest upon the end 18 of the rod 17 may fall inwardly but will be allowed to. slide outward and downward over the sloping upper surface of wall 16, thus afiording clear access to the key.

In the use of the modification shown by Figs. 3 and a, when it is desired to obtain access to the key without breaking the glass, the bolt 32 is withdrawn by means of a key operating in look 33, and then the rod 17 may be turned so that the end 18 will clear the glass when. the glass may be removed.

A glass may be replaced by placing the new glass in position, pushing the rod 17 back far enough so the end 28 will clear the slot 241-, then turning the rod so the end 18 clears the glass, then pulling the rod forward till said end passes the glass, then turning the rod so that the end 28 engages the slot 26% when the said end 18 will engage the glass, and thus lock the various parts in position.

lVhile T have shown the casing as extending forward from the door, it is evident that if desired it might be extended to the rear, within the box, and other minor changes in the form of arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, but

What 1 claim is:

1. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming one wall of said chamber, a projection from one wall of said chamber adapted to retain an edge of said plate, the opposite wall of said chamber abutting against a side of said plate, the other walls of said chamber extending beyond said plate, said plate extending beyond said abutting wall, a latch engaging the edge of said plate opposite said slot, and means for holding said latch against said plate.

2. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming one wall of said chamber, a projection adapted to retain the top of said plate, a fulcrum for said plate between the top and bottom thereof, and spring operated means engaging the bot-tom of said plate and tending to cause movement of said plate around said fulcrum.

3. A uard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming one wall of said chamber, a projection adapted to retain the top of said plate, the side walls of said chamber extending beyond said plate, a fulcrum for said plate between the top and bottom thereof, and spring operated means engaging the bottom of said plate and tending to cause movement of said plate around said fulcrum.

4. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming one wall of said chamber, a projection adapted to retain an edge of said plate, a fulcrum for said plate between said edge and the opposite edge thereof, and spring operated means engaging said opposite edge and tending to cause movement of said plate around said fulcrum.

5. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate formingone wall of said chamber, a projection adapted to retain an edge of said plate, a fulcrum for said plate between said edge and the opposite edge thereof, spring operated means engaging said opposite edge and tending to cause movement of said plate around said fulcrum, the walls of said chamber extending beyond said plate.

6. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming a wall of said chamber, a latch for said plate, means for holding said latch in engagement with said plate, and means whereby said latch may be disengaged from said holding means only when said latch is not in engagement with said plate.

7. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming a wall of said chamber, a latch which may be rotated to engage said plate, and means adapted to hold said latch against rotation when said latch is in position to engage said plate.

8. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming a wall of said chamber, a latch which may be rotated to engage said plate, means adapted to be engaged by said latch to be rotated thereby when said latch is in position to engage said plate, and. a lock adapted to hold said means against rotation.

9. A guard consisting of the combination of a chamber, a frangible plate forming a wall of said chamber, a latch which may be rotated to engage said plate, means adapted to be engaged by said latch to be rotated thereby when said latch is in position to engage said plate, and a lock so situated with relation to said means that the bolt of said lock may prevent the rotation of said means so that the latch cannot be disengaged from the plate when said bolt is extended and so that when said bolt is withdrawn the latch and means may be rotated so as to permit said plate to be removed.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, this 3rd day of February, A. D., 1914.

CLARENCE E. BEACH.

Witnesses:

ROBERT C. SWANTON, HARRY F. Hom'oN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner 0! Iatentl. Washington, D. G. 

